A record of the katuns for the Itzá, called the Maya katuns.
12 Ahau.
10 Ahau.
8 Ahau.
6 Ahau was when the people of Conil were dispersed. 1
4 Ahau.
2 Ahau. /
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13 Ahau.
11 Ahau.
9 Ahau.
7 Ahau.
5 Ahau was when the town of the ruler of Izamal, Kinich Kakmoo 2 as well as Pop-hol Chan was destroyed by Hunac Ceel.
3 Ahau.
1 Ahau was when the remainder of the Itzá were driven out of Chichen. It was the third tun of <Katun> 1 Ahau when Chichen was depopulated.
12 Ahau.
10 Ahau.
8 Ahau was the katun when the remainder of the Itzá founded their town, coming forth from beneath the trees and bushes at Tan-Xuluc-Mul, as it was called. They came out and established the land of Zaclactun Mayapan, 3 as it was called. In the seventh tun of Katun 8 Ahau, this was the katun when Chakanputun perished at the hands of Kak-u-pacal and Tee Uilu. 4
6 Ahau.
4 Ahau.
2 Ahau.
13 Ahau.
11 Ahau.
9 Ahau.
7 Ahau.
5 Ahau was when foreigners arrived to eat men. /
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3 Ahau.
1 Ahau was when the district of Tancah Mayapan, as it was called, was depopulated. It was in the first tun of Katun I Ahau that the head-chief Tutul <Xiu> departed with the chiefs of the town and the four divisions 2 of the town. This was the katun when the men of Tancah 3 were dispersed and the chiefs of the town were scattered.
12 Ahau. The stone was taken at Otzmal.
10 Ahau. The stone was taken at Zizal.
8 Ahau. The stone was taken at Kancaba.
6 Ahau. The stone was taken at Hunacthi.
4 Ahau. The stone was taken at Atikuh. This was the katun when the pestilence occurred. It was in the fifth tun of Katun 4 Ahau. 4
2 Ahau. The stone was taken at Chacalna.
13 Ahau. The stone was taken at Euan.
11 Ahau. On the first day the stone was taken at Colox-peten. 5
This was the katun when the rain-bringer died; his name was Napot Xiu. 6 It was in the first tun of 11 Ahau, that was the katun, when the
[paragraph continues] Spaniards first arrived here in our land. 1 It was in the seventh tun of Katun 11 Ahau that Christianity then began; 2 it was in the year A. D. 15 19. 3
9 Ahau. No stone was taken. This was the katun when Bishop Francisco Toral first arrived. He arrived in the sixth tun of Katun 9 Ahau. 4
7 Ahau. No stone was taken. This was the katun when Bishop de Landa died. Then another bishop also arrived. /
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5 Ahau.
3 Ahau.
On this 18th day of August, 1766, occurred a hurricane. I have made a record of it in order that it may be seen how many years it will be before another one will occur.
On this 20th day of January, 1782, there was an epidemic of inflammation here in the town of Chumayel. The swelling began at the neck and then descended. <It spread> from the little ones to the adults, until it swept the entire house, once it was introduced. The remedy was sour ashes 5 and lemons or the young Siempre vive. 6 It was the year of '81 when it began. After that there was a great drought also. There was scarcely any rain. The entire
forest was burned <with the heat>, and the forest <trees> died This is the record which I have written down, I, Don Juan Josef Hoil. 1 (Rubrica.) /
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Chumayel, June 28th, 1858, was when I made a loan to Chinuh Balam. 1, Pedro Briceño. (Rubrica.) 2 /
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140:4 Of the five chronicles found in the Books of Chilam Balam this is the most puzzling. Much of its material is found in the others, but the dates and sequence of events are different. Here Hunac Ceel is said to have lived prior to the destruction of Chakanputun, and the fall of Mayapan is placed in Katun 1 Ahau, three katuns prior to its well established date in Katun 8 Ahau. Nevertheless a number of events are dated within the katun with an apparent precision not found in the other chronicles.
141:1 Alternative translation: when the merchants were dispersed. This might be a reference to some occasion when foreign merchants were driven from the country. Brinton's translation, "the well-dressed ones" is based on a slight error by Berendt in copying the original manuscript. He wrote ah oni for ah coni.
141:2 Kin-ich Kak-moo, lit. sun-eyed fiery macaw, was a sort of sun-god whose rays descended and consumed sacrifices to him. This deity, whose idol was at Izamal, was a protector against disease (Cogolludo 1868, Book 4, Chap. 8).
141:3 The place-name Zaclactun has survived only in that of the hacienda of Salactun in the district of Izamal (Berendt: Nombres propios en lengua Maya, f. 73 v.).
141:4 We find the names of these leaders mentioned in the historical reports of the first Spanish settlers. "The inhabitants of the said city (Izamal) were conquered by Kak-u-pacal and Uilo, valorous captains of the Itzá who were the people who founded Mayapan" (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 269). "In the course of time the inhabitants of the said town (Motul) were conquered by Kak-u-pacal and one hundred valorous captains formerly of the city of Mayapan" (Ibid, I, p. 119). Evidently the fall of Chakanputun, the establishment of Mayapan and the Itzá conquest of the important cities of northern Yucatan all took place within a single generation. Kak-u-pacal, literally fiery glance, was deified and worshipped at the time of the Spanish Conquest (Cogolludo 1868, Book 4, Chap. 8).
142:1 Brinton and Martinez both consider these invaders to have been Caribs because of the cannibalism and nudity mentioned. Down to the middle of the Eighteenth Century Mosquito Indians in canoes from Rio Tinto, Honduras, were still making raids on the east coast of Yucatan. (MS. map of Yucatan by Juan de Dios Gonsalez, 1766.) It seems likely that similar incursions took place in pre-Columbian times. The skirt (Maya pic) referred to is certainly a woman's garment. Possibly ppic is intended. This was the sobre carga, a bundle carried above the usual traveler's pack. Cf. Motul.
142:3 Tancah may refer to the portion of Mayapan lying outside the walls.
142:5 This taking of the stone evidently refers to the Maya custom of setting up a monument every 7200 days to commemorate the katun that has just passed. Cf. Landa 1929, pages 94-98. Avendaño states that the thirteen katuns were ascribed to each of thirteen provinces in turn. Cf. Appendix D.
A parallel passage found on page 95 of the Codex Perez ascribes these ceremonies as follows: 1 Ahau, Izamal; 12 Ahau. Zizal; 10 Ahau. Kulche; 8 Ahau, Hunucma; 6 Ahau, Chacalna; 4 Ahau, Tiix-Kulche; 2 Ahau, Euan; 13 Ahau, Colox-peten; and states that in 11 Ahau when the Spaniards arrived no stone was taken. Izamal, Hunucma and Zizal are well-known towns. Euan is in the district of Izamal. Hunacthi is said to be in the Province of Mani (Molina Solís 1896, p. 219). Otzmal is now a hacienda two leagues south of Sotula, and Kancaba is the name of a hacienda in the district of Valladolid (Berendt, Nom, prop. de Yuc. f. 55 v.).
142:6 In the Mani, Tizimin and first Chumayel chronicles this event was placed in Katun 13 Ahau but confused with some unknown episode which occurred in a year 4 Kan, presumably 1545 (Cf. p. 138, note 3). The year 4 Kan fell in Katun 11 Ahau, and in this chronicle the actual death of the rain-bringer is ascribed to the latter katun.
143:1 "Verbi gratia. The Indians state that the Spaniards completed their arrival at the city of Merida in the year A.D. 1541, which was exactly the first year of the era 11 Ahau" (Landa 1929, p. 98). The truth of this statement is open to question, but it agrees with the date mentioned in the present chronicle.
143:2 In these chronicles Christianity is usually said to have begun in Katun 9 Ahau. The present reference may be to the arrival of Fr. Villalpando in 1546. On page 145 we shall see the statement that the missionaries arrived in 1545.
143:3 In the Books of Chilam Balam the year 1519 is given an importance out of all proportion to the fact that it was the year when Cortez landed and remained for a short time in Cozumel. On page 81 we have seen this date associated with a treaty with the Spaniards which must have occurred much later; again on page 84 we have seen the foundation of Merida and that of the Convent of San Francisco ascribed to the same year.
The Maya text is not divided into sentences, and the present translation is based on a sentence arrangement which changes the meaning materially from that of Brinton's translation, which is as follows: "The eleventh ahau: in the time of its beginning, the stone of Coloxpeten was taken; in this katun died Apula Napotxiu, in the first year of the eleventh ahau; it was also in this katun that the Spaniards first arrived here in this land, in the seventh year of the eleventh ahau katun; also Christianity began in the year fifteen hundred and nineteen, the year of our Lord 1519" (Brinton 1882, pp. 171172). Although it is possible that Brinton's rendition is the correct one, preference is given to the sentence arrangement given above, because Maya writers usually place a temporal phrase or clause beginning with the particle ti before the main clause of the sentence. Indeed Dr. Andrade reports that in present-day spoken Maya a temporal clause with ti precedes the main clause.
143:4 Bishop Toral arrived in Yucatan in 1562.
143:5 Possibly a lye solution is meant.
143:6 Maya, zizal-xiu, the Bryophyllum pinnatun (Lam.) S. Kurz. It is called Siempre vive, Admirable and Sinverguenza in Spanish (Roys 1931, p. 310).
144:1 Juan Josef Hoil is considered the compiler of the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel.
144:2 This note is made in a different hand from the usual text of the Chumayel. The date might be 1818, 1838 or 1858. The last has been chosen as the most probable.